How would you handle covid 19?

[The Minsky Moment]

You want all those goodies in exchange for telling someone else to take care of it? 

BTW, no such as bearer Treasury bonds.

Bearer obligations are virtually non-existent in the US anyways because of unfavorable tax treatment since the 80s.

[Josquius]

How many Hong Kongers study medicine overseas?
If every single one of them come back after would it solve Hong kongs problems?
Then to consider its almost certain a large minority at the very least will be more swayed by elsewhere...

[Monoriu]

I say, screw the doctors, let's import doctors and see what happens   

Huh. I guess I never thought the current bumblers running Hong Kong could appear wise until I started hearing Mono's ideas.

Importing doctors is official HK government policy.  And unlike most government positions, this one actually has substantial public support.  Just imagine waiting for three years to see a specialist at a public hospital.  You'll want to import doctors too

[Monoriu]

How many Hong Kongers study medicine overseas?
If every single one of them come back after would it solve Hong kongs problems?
Then to consider its almost certain a large minority at the very least will be more swayed by elsewhere...

When I was a kid, it was popular to study medicine overseas.  My grandmother tried to make my father do it, but failed 

But the rule that only students educated in HK can practise in HK has been in place for more than 20 years now, that any HK student who studied medicine overseas must know that they can't come back.  The other problem with studying medicine overseas is that it is only possible for a few countries, mainly the UK.  You can't do it for the US or Canada, because for some reason medicine is a post-graduate degree there. 

Given that the bulk of HK students who study overseas want to come back to HK, I would imagine there aren't a lot of people who do that.  But if somebody can rewrite the rules that HK students who study medicine in the UK can come back to practise, just like the old days, I would imagine a flood of people will do that.  Medicine is now the single most popular profession here. 

[Admiral Yi]

Medicine is a 4 year degree in HK?  And in the UK? 

[Monoriu]

Medicine is a 4 year degree in HK?  And in the UK? 

Six year undergraduate degree in HK.  Not sure about the length in the UK but it is definitely undergraduate.  We copied their system after all.

[Sheilbh]

Medicine is a 4 year degree in HK?  And in the UK? 

5 year if you're an undergrad, 4 years if you're a grad plus a couple of years as a junior doctor (mandatory post-graduate training program) - after that you're in your specialism.

Although actually giving covid-19 there is talk of basically giving fifth year students an emergency graduation so they'll be junior doctors.

Edit: How long is it in the US?

[Admiral Yi]

Well shit.  That explains the big difference in health care spending then.  We treat MDs like big deals, when in reality all you need are a couple vo-tech credits.

[Monoriu]

Yeah I think all these rules about making medicine a post-graduate degree, limiting the people who can practise etc are all protectionist measures.  They just make it more difficult to join the market and compete with the existing doctors. 

What we really need are AI doctors.  I think they'll do a much better job than human ones. 

[Sheilbh]

Well shit.  That explains the big difference in health care spending then.  We treat MDs like big deals, when in reality all you need are a couple vo-tech credits.

It's one of the factors - cost of medication and procedures also relevant:

[MadImmortalMan]

Yeah I think all these rules about making medicine a post-graduate degree, limiting the people who can practise etc are all protectionist measures.  They just make it more difficult to join the market and compete with the existing doctors. 

That's true of every profession. I have like 40 sets of initials after my name now. CCNA CCNE, MCSE, MCSA, MSNA, A+, N+, S+, CME, blah blah. Certified Ethical Hacker for Christ's sake. It's out of control. The new nobility. KBE? Star Chamber?

The only thing all these dumbass initials after my name do is protect me from having to compete with smart motivated younger people. That's it.

The AMA is the same. Nothing but good old fashioned mercantilistic bully-boy guild tactics.

Do you really need fifteen years of school to set a broken arm? Come on.

[Josquius]

It's interesting to compare with Switzerland.
Over there you need to be certified to do practically any job. Whether it's doctor, interior decorator, child minder, plasterer or whatever, you absolutely have to have your papers in place.
As opposed to the UK where its generally only with elite jobs that we have these restrictions.

[Sheilbh]

Yeah I think the US is obsessed with people being licensed too.

From my recent stay in hospital makes me think we slightly overvalue doctors and profoundly undervalue and underpay nurses, who I actually think could also do a lot more stuff within the healthcare system.

[Josquius]

Yeah I think the US is obsessed with people being licensed too.

From my recent stay in hospital makes me think we slightly overvalue doctors and profoundly undervalue and underpay nurses, who I actually think could also do a lot more stuff within the healthcare system.

Definitely true.
I guess in a way this makes sense from the ye olde way of looking at skills and education. Cramming enough in your head to be a doctor was the challenge in itself.
These days any knowledge is readily available at any time, its not quite the skill it used to be. Its still important, but the scales have tipped a bit more towards the human interaction side of medical care, i.e. the relatively "unskilled" stuff that was the traditional domain of nurses.

[garbon]

Yeah I think the US is obsessed with people being licensed too.

From my recent stay in hospital makes me think we slightly overvalue doctors and profoundly undervalue and underpay nurses, who I actually think could also do a lot more stuff within the healthcare system.

That's more UK specific. US nurses are paid in a much more respectable fashion.

I've only had one employee so far who didn't have a degree. We fired him at 6 months.